More unrest over Hips

Posted: 19 Apr 2006 09:47:17 GMT

Home Information Packs (Hips) have polarised public opinion in the UK and as the government steps up its campaign, it seems the dispute is as strong as ever.

Tory MP Ian Liddell-Grainger yesterday called for the Hips scheme to be scrapped, arguing that it would waste tens of millions of pounds and that it would create huge VAT returns for the Treasury.

The government, on the other hand, claims that a huge amount of money will be saved, with fewer transactions breaking down.

Responding to Mr Liddell-Grainger's anti-Hip stance, Paul Broadhead, deputy director general of the Association of Home Information Providers (AHIPP), said that he was "poorly informed".

"What he failed to mention is that the introduction of packs will allow a buyer to be properly informed about the condition of a property before it goes on the market and before a hapless buyer spends cash on a survey - the results of which cause the sale to fall through.

"These Home Condition Reports will be done by highly trained Home Inspectors who are not 'instant professionals' but people who will have come from a surveying or building background or who have newly trained to a high level of competence. They will be rigorously regulated," he added.

Hips will be introduced in June 2007 and the government argues that the entire market will benefit from increased transparency.


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